Laura's 23rd
by Dave the Wordsmith
Summary: It's Laura's 23rd Birthday and she's afraid no one will remember. How will things turn out?
1. A Dream Come True

**Chapter One: A Dream Come True**

"Good morning Chicago!"

Stepping outside the balcony of the hotel that was conveniently located ten to fifteen minutes away from the Winslow's residence, Steven Q. Urkel dressed in red and green plaid pajamas looked around for a few minutes to take in the cool, fresh air, the bright green leaves on the trees floating silently below him, and the sun shining warmly on his face. Seeing the numerous tall buildings surrounding him along with the bright blue and yellow sky brought a smile to his face as he rested his hands on the golden ledge in front of him. It had been a day after the wedding of him and his new bride, Laura Lee Winslow, had taken place and nothing more beautiful could have happened than what had occurred on that day of May, 1999. Laura's brother, Eddie Winslow, was nice enough to be Steve's best man in his favor, and Maxine, Laura's long-time friend, after a few naïve laughs, agreed to be Laura's bridesmaid. Steve was happy to see Mother Winslow and Rachel Crawford, Harriette's sister, arrive as he hadn't seen them in a few years. He finally felt as though he was family once and for all with the Winslow's on that day, as only a few members of his own family were able to arrive save his parents who had claimed that "Mod Squad" known as "Modsky Squadsky" there in Russia was on repeat and they could not miss it. Although there were a few hitches in the wedding ceremony with Steve almost causing Carl Winslow, Laura's father, to fall head first into the wedding cake and the surprise appearance of Myrtle Urkel to chase after Eddie, Laura thanked Steve for a great time at the wedding and reminded him that it was what she had wanted her wedding to be, mistakes and all. Laughing with a few snorts, Steve smiled as he realized that his surprise he had planned for Laura was going well so far, almost too well.

"Steve?"

"Hidey ho Laura Lee!"

Turning around, he silently gasped as he saw who he envisioned as the most beautiful person in the world in a light blue robe with matching fur slippers in front of him. Speechless for a minute, it took for Laura to chuckle for a few minutes to wake him out of his reverie.

"Steve, you ok?"

"Of course, my sweet," Steve answered, the two of them now standing on the balcony.

"But it's five in the morning," Laura yawned. "You don't have class for another five hours."

"I know, sugar bottom," Steve headed toward the sliding glass door leading back into the master bedroom. "But I have a few things I have to take care of before I do that! Besides, after that, WE have a few things to take care of!" Steve smiled, bouncing up and down in his usual cool gesture and raising his eyebrows that caused Laura to laugh once again.

"Steve?"

"Yes?"

"Be careful what you wish for."

"Why, Laura Lee?"

"Because," Laura slowly walked over to Steve, whose back was still against the screen door, and gave him a kiss on the lips. "You might just get it." Going back inside as Steve moved away for her to open the door, he still remained standing there, his eyes wide open and his mouth agape.

"…Whoooooooooa, MAMA!"

* * *

"Waldo?"

"'Sup!"

Eddie heard his long-time friend answer from his new advanced at the time cell phone, driving in his new red Corvette that he had saved up to purchase while at his current occupation as an officer at the Chicago Police Department. Taking advantage of his few days off, he decided to cruise the streets of Chicago and see what was up before going over to see his sweetheart, Greta. Holding the phone in his right hand, he let his left hand grip the top of the steering wheel as he rotated it to the left to make his left hand turn at the green left turn lane signal.

"Steve's planning a surprise birthday party for Laura tomorrow."

"Cool."

"So I want you and Maxine to come on over to Steve and Laura's hotel and celebrate."

"Cool, but I don't think it'll work."

"Why?"

"If she already knows it's her birthday, it won't be a surprise then."

Taking a moment to sigh and shake his head at Waldo's response, Eddie put the phone back up to his ear.

"And the decorations and cake will give it away."

"Waldo! Don't worry! Just show up with Maxine and bring some food, all right?"

"Cool."

* * *

Remembering that she was alone in the hotel room for the rest of the night due to Steve's classes that he decided to take in order to graduate from IOU, Laura Urkel lay her black purse down on the kitchen table, exhausted from her two classes as well as her shift at Ferguson's. Thankful that her mother was still working there, she was able to convince her boss to give Laura the next few days off in order to celebrate her birthday. The day she was surprised to notice her husband Steve barely mentioning. Besides Steve mentioning the plan to move into their new house which would be only a few minutes driving distance away from her mother and father's home and stay in the hotel in the meantime, she was almost blown away by the fact that her birthday, May 23rd, had not been talked about by the only man who was very enamored by her sight or own voice in his presence. After calling her parents, Eddie, Waldo, even Maxine about whether or not Steve had said anything only to get nothing from them also, did not make things any better.

"I can't believe this…"

"Hi sugar toes!"

"Hi Steve…"

Realizing that she had been sitting there longer than she had thought, she looked at the clock on the microwave and saw the light flashing 10:11 PM.

"What's wrong, Laura Lee?"

"I'm fine, just had a long day…thanks for asking though."

"I know what you mean," Steve walked over to the refrigerator and pulled out two soda drinks, accidentally dropping one of the cans but just as quickly bent over to pick it up. Putting them both under his arm, he walked over to the table where Laura was sitting and sat next to her, setting the two sodas in front of him. "Talk about your crazy teachers, this new professor we have is just off of his rocker! All I did was put in a recommendation of which formula we should use which would be more efficient instead of the one provided, and he wanted my head!"

"Well, you only have a few more months left to deal with him and then you'll be able to graduate."

"That's right! Even though I have to make up some of the work I missed due to the space program in Houston and the wedding, it was well worth it, Laura Lee."

"You're so sweet, Steve…"

"But uh," Steve looked down at the two cans of soda, forgetting which was which. "Wait! Was it this one I dropped? Or was it THIS one…no wait, it was THAT one I remember, it was THAT one I had dropped. YEAH! Or…no…wait…it was-"

"That's all right, Steve," Laura cheesed as she stood up from her seat, kissing Steve on the cheek. "I'll just wait until tomorrow to drink it. G'night!"

"Good night, my pet," Steve smiled as he saw Laura walk into their bedroom, the door closing shut being the only sound heard throughout the room. Returning to his mistake, Steve continued to deduce which one to drink and finally settled on one to open. Opening the can he decided was the right one, a sudden burst of soda sprayed into his face as his tongue and lips felt the large sum of soda spilling down onto the table and his neck.

"Well…" Steve walked over to the kitchen and pulled out many paper towels from off the roll situated next to the microwave, wiping his face and the table down. "…At least Laura wasn't here, I would've given her that one! But tomorrow…tomorrow…she'll never forget."


	2. So Far, So Good

**Chapter Two: So Far, So Good**

"Good morning, Harriette!"

Receiving a quick kiss on her cheek from her husband of twenty plus years, she smiled as he finished putting his and her plates of breakfast on the kitchen table. It had been months since a child of theirs, now including their new son-in-law Steve Urkel, had stepped a foot into their humble abode and Harriette began to finally feel the effects of the house being empty save for her and her husband. A small gap of silence filled the room before Carl put a concerned look on his face, putting a hand on his wife's shoulder as she sat at the table by herself.

"What's wrong, sweet heart?"

"Oh, it's nothing, Carl."

"C'mon, what is it?"

"Well…it's almost Laura's birthday, and…it's the first time she isn't around. Richie and 3J are with Rachel now and Mother Winslow is with Fletcher. It's just not the same as when Laura and the kids were here."

"Yeah, I know what you mean," Carl agreed, sitting down next to her at the table with his plate in front of him. "Well…not counting those times Laura, Eddie and Steve would get into something, especially Steve."

Both of them laughing at Carl's remark, Carl took a sip of his coffee from his mug.

"I'm sure Steve has something planned for Laura, Harriette."

"I guess you're right, Carl. I was getting worried for nothing."

"…As long as nothing blows up or gets destroyed, you have nothing to worry about." The two of them laughed again as he leaned over to kiss his wife.

* * *

The doorbell rang as Steve smiled and ran over to the door, opening it and grinning with delight at the food in front of him.

"Pepperoni pizza…with…spicy salmon paste and spam?"

"Yepperooni, that's me! Thanks!" Steve handed him the money and took the white box containing the food he had ordered, the man at the door still standing there.

"What about a tip?"

"Oh yeah, here," Steve reached into his pants pocket with his free hand, searching for a piece of change but unable to find any. Finally feeling a familiar shaped object in his pocket, he took it out and put it in the delivery man's hand, patting it with a smile on his face. "Have a caramel."

Shutting the door, Steve carefully placed the pizza box down on the table in the kitchen, happy that the beginning of his several days off was finally beginning. However, he still had other plans to take care of; specifically, Laura's surprise birthday party, which was today.

"It was surely great to talk to Big Guy and Big Guy's gal," Steve said to himself between bites of a piece of pizza. "They were happy to come by this evening to celebrate my sweet's delightful 23rd and bring by the rest of the Winslow's. They promised to not tell her and pretend that they were busy, which is exactly what I want them to do. Now to finish this phone call and get-"

"Hi, Steve!"

"I'll finish this later," Steve put the number he had written down in his pocket, walking over to Laura who had just walked in through the front door and took her coat that was covered with a few snowflakes. "Hidey ho, lovely lady, how was your day?"

"It was good, just had a long day…" Laura sighed as she sat down at a seat at the kitchen table and sat her bag full of her binder and school supplies on the table.

_A day that no one's said anything about…_ Laura thought to herself as Steve opened his pizza box to take out another slice of pizza.

"Want some pizza to put in the ol' bread basket before work?" Steve slid a can of coke over near the depressed Laura. "I also got you some sody pop!"

"No thanks Steve…I don't really have an appetite. I'd better go and get a head start at my shift at Ferguson's so I can get some extra bucks."

"Well…okay," Steve feigned a fake sigh as he saw his wife leave with her purse in hand. "So far, so good! Everything's going according to plan!"

* * *

"So Steve wants to have a little surprise party for Laura?"

"Yup," Waldo replied to Maxine, the latter driving the former toward their friend's hotel room. "I tried to tell him and Eddie it was a bad idea."

"That's sweet of Steve…I always saw him as nothing more than a nerd who didn't know when to say when from going after Laura, but…he's actually pretty nice once you know him from in the inside."

"But Maxine, we only know him from the outside," Waldo looked honestly confused at his beau, who looked disgusted at his reply. "We'd only see his bodily organs and his skeleton from the inside."

"Waldo, I meant…agh, forget it."

* * *

"Steve, you here?"

"Hey there, Eddo! Hey Greta, glad you two pals could make it!"

"No problem, man," Eddie suddenly shuddered and scrunched his face as a weird smell made it into his nose. "Ugh, Steve?! What's that smell?"

"Sorry! That was the pizza I had this afternoon! I forgot I left it in the trash can," Steve answered as he slowly took the trash bag containing the folded up pizza box out from the trash can and tied it up, walked out the front door and went down the hall to put the bag in the hallway's incinerator. "I only wish I had come up with creating a SPAM blocker to hide the smell!" Steve laughed and snorted as he walked back inside the living room, walking over to where Eddie and Greta were sitting on the sofa snuggled together.

"So are Mr. and Mrs. Winslow coming too?" Greta asked.

"Yes indeedy!" Steve cheerfully replied. "Mr. and Mrs. Big Guy were happy to come, especially Harriette…seems to me she misses Laura and you too, Eddo."

"I could tell when I called her this morning," Eddie said, wrapping his arm around Greta. "It seems like the four of us are so busy we accidentally forget to pay them a visit at times. We should once July 4th gets here."

"I agree, I kinda do miss talking to Mrs. Winslow," Greta added.

"Well, we'll all be together in a few more hours, and once my honey cheeks gets back," Steve sat down in the small couch next to the sofa. "She'll have a wonderful time on her birthday. I'm sure of it."


	3. Surprise!

**Chapter Three: Surprise!**

"'Sup Waldo, Maxine, good to see you two made it," Eddie opened the front door as he let them both come in. Shaking his long-time friend's hand and hugging his sister's best friend with Greta not too far behind him, the four of them grinned as they stood together in the middle of the living room.

"Sup," Waldo broke the small silence as he turned his head for a few moments before looking back at Eddie. "Eddie, where's Steve?"

"Oh, he went to put a few finishing touches on his surprise he has for Laura."

"Wait, how do you know that?"

"Because Steve told us about it, Waldo."

"Then it's not a surprise!"

Both Eddie and Maxine sighed to themselves, deciding to forget to explain any further to Waldo what Eddie had meant.

"Anyway…thanks for bringing the food, Waldo. You're off the chain when it comes to cooking."

"No prob, Bob!"

"All righty-oh, guys, I made it back!" Steve exclaimed as he walked in the room, carrying a few white paper bags in his hand.

"What's in there, Steve?" Eddie questioned as Steve set the bags down on the table. Grinning, Steve got into his cool posture.

"Eddo, you remember eight years ago…when I gave Laura that I.D. bracelet and she refused it?"

"Yeah, what about it?"

"Well…" Steve reached into one of the bags and pulled out the same red, slim box that contained the show of his affection he wanted to give to Laura those years ago. "I went to a special shop here in Chicago and got it an overhaul!"

"What would a bracelet need an overhaul for? It's not moving anywhere!"

Rolling his eyes, Steve sighed and walked over to Waldo, reaching behind his back and putting his hand on his shoulder.

"Waldo…" Steve put a sarcastic, fake smile on his face, trying the best he could not to snap and give Waldo a piece of his mind. "…That would be a U-Haul! An OVERHAUL is making repairs or putting new things onto something to make it better." Steve finished, patting his shoulder and walking back over to the table.

"Ohhhhhh. Cool!" Waldo said with a quick nod as he sat down in the sofa next to Maxine, who was flustered from Waldo's characteristic display of confusion and had her head buried in her hands.

"So you talked to Mr. and Mrs. Winslow about the party, right Steve?" Greta asked, walking over to Eddie and wrapping her arms around him.

"Absolutely! They should be here in a few hours after Big Guy gets off of his shift and picks Mrs. Big Guy up from work! They're also gonna bring by Rachel and Mother Winslow!"

"Yo Steve, you got some grub in here?" Eddie looked around in the refrigerator, reaching his arm in to move the numerous food products around to find something he liked.

"Laura bought some chips. They're on top of the refrigerator."

"Cool!"

Hearing the sudden knocking of the front door caused Steve to almost fall out of his seat on the couch as he got up to see who it was. Smiling widely, he opened the door for the two figures that made their entrance into Steve and Laura's hotel room.

"Rachel! Mother Winslow!"

"Hey Steve!" They both said simultaneously, hugging him and everyone else in the room. "Are we late?" Rachel added as she put her snow covered coat on the coat rack by the door.

"You two ladies are in no hurry! Laura won't be here for another hour!"

"Steve, I knew from the first time the two of you met that you and Laura were perfect for each other," Mother Winslow smiled as Eddie helped her sit down in his seat on the big sofa.

"Really?"

"Absolutely!" Mother Winslow answered with a chuckle.

"Uh Steve?" Rachel asked in a whisper, walking over to get close to Steve. "You didn't invite Murtaugh did you?"

"No. Why?"

"Good." Rachel sighed and pursed her lips in her usual sarcastic way.

Thrown out of the many thoughts he was thinking of from the sound of the door knock from the front door once again, Steve opened the door and was very happy to see who had arrived.

"Big Guy! Big Guy's gal!"

"Hey Steve," Carl smiled as he came in with Harriette by his side, surprised to feel Steve's hug tightly squeezing his body.

"Good to see ya Big Guy!"

"You too Steve…" Carl smiled, patting Steve's back. "Uh Steve? …You can let go now!" Carl laughed as he felt his son-in-law finally let go.

"Good to see you Steve," Harriette gave Steve a small hug, her smile growing even bigger as she saw her son and his beau, as well as Waldo and Maxine.

"Awww…it's great to see all of you guys here…Carl…Harriette…Rachel…Mother Winslow…Eddo…Waldo…Maxine…Greta…I mean that from the bottom of my heart…I thank you guys for coming to celebrate the birthday of a person who means everything to me, and the person I worship the rain and the sun that falls down on the grass that she walks on."

"No problem, sugar," Mother Winslow smiled. "You're part of the family now, and you always have been. And we're here for you no matter what."

"Thank you Mother Winslow," Steve looked at the clock, realizing that it was almost about to be seven o'clock, the time Laura would be done with work. "Now you guys remember your hiding places, right?"

"Yup," Waldo answered.

_Thank God…_ Steve said to himself as he went into his bedroom to continue his various plans he had been thinking about for Laura's party.

* * *

"Here's your change and your receipt, thank you for shopping at Ferguson's!" Laura handed the female customer as she smiled and said a 'Thank you' before leaving the counter to head down to the exit.

"Good, it's seven," Laura turned off her register and smiled half-heartedly, the feeling of loneliness sinking into her heart. Frowning, she went over to clock out with her time card and grabbed her purse that she had put underneath the back of the counter. "I can't believe my own parents didn't even remember that it was my birthday…I dropped hints but they didn't catch on…neither did Eddie, Maxine, and Waldo…that's another story…"

Getting into her car to drive the ten minute drive to the hotel, Laura sighed and looked at the few small gifts she had received from some of her co-workers and from her boss before starting the ignition and turning the radio on to hear a smooth jazz radio station playing a slow, sad song softly in the background.

"Happy 23rd birthday, Laura Lee Urkel…"

* * *

"Maxine?" Waldo whispered loudly in the darkness of the large closet room across the hall from Laura and Steve's bedroom where everyone was hiding save for Steve, cutting through the silence as though it were a knife.

"Yeah Waldo?"

"Where are you?"

"I'm over here!"

"Oh, cool…"

"Waldo, if you don't get your hand off of me…!"

"Sorry Mrs. Crawford! I thought you were Maxine!"

* * *

Inserting the hotel room key into the door knob, Laura sadly opened the door and shut it, predicting correctly that no one was inside and the only light that was on was the kitchen light. Taking her coat off and putting it on the empty coat rack, she sighed and slowly shuffled her feet a few times before seeing the familiar figure of Steve strutting from the bedroom door down the hall in front of her over to his wife.

"Hidey ho Laura Lee!" Steve smiled as he quickly put a frown on his face, seeing Laura's somber expression and a small sigh leave her mouth. "What's the matter my little cheese nip?"

"Well…you see…" Laura started to explain, but quickly grew tired of being subtle. "All right, I can't take it any more Steve! Today's my birthday and no one's said anything…not even mom and daddy…"

"Ohhhhhh…Laura Lee…I can explain!"

"Don't worry Steve…it's only a 23rd birthday, right? I mean…I had a great 21st and 22nd…so a 23rd with just the two of us is good enough…I just wish everyone else was here to celebrate it with us…I miss seeing them…"

"Be careful what you wish for, Laura Lee Winslow-Urkel…because you might just get it."

"What do you mean, Steve?"

"**SURPRIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIISE!"** Everyone came out from the closet, Carl running into the kitchen to push a giant blue and white cake on a black movable tray out into the living room in front of Laura. Seeing the twenty-three candles lighted beautifully with "Happy Birthday Laura" written in blue cursive as well as everyone that she cared so much about caused Laura to have a big smile on her face and feel her eyes begin to well up with tears. Turning to Steve, she hugged him and held on to him tight.

"I love you, Steve…"

"I love you too, Laura Lee…"

"I love all you guys!"

"Happy birthdaaaaay…to youuuuuuu!" Eddie began to sing as the others joined in to sing with him. "Happy birthdaaaaaaay, toooooo youuuuuu! Happy birthdaaaaaaaay, dear Lauraaaaaaaaa! Happy birthdaaaaaaaaaaay, to youuuuuuuu!"

"C'mon Laura, make a wish!" Harriette suggested.

Taking a moment to make a wish, she took a breath and blew all of the candles out. Clapping for her, everyone took a moment to hand Laura their gifts and cards as she began to make the first cut of the cake with the silver knife that was laid to the side of the cake. After opening her gifts, she suddenly felt Steve grab Laura by the shoulders as he began to guide her toward the front door.

"Guys, we'll be right back!"

"Steve?"

"I've got a few surprises for you! I already told the fam bam about it, but I wanted you to see them first before everyone else! And for that, we have to go outside!"

"Okay…" Laura said with a smile as she suddenly felt Steve's hand go over her eyes. "Steve!"

"I don't want you to see where we're going or else it'll ruin the surprise!"

* * *

"Steve, it's cold out here!" Laura remarked as she could feel the cold wind blow against her cheeks. Steve continued to guide Laura from behind as she quickly estimated that they had been outside walking for a few minutes now. "Where are we going?"

"Only a few more minutes and we'll be there! We're only a few blocks down from the hotel."

Wondering what the surprise could be, the many guesses of what it was ran through Laura's mind as she continued to go with what Steve had planned.

"Okay, here it is!" Steve finally put his hand off of her eyes to see what was in front of them.

"Oh my God, Steve…" Laura gasped with her hand on her chest as she looked up to the top of the giant object in front of her. Resembling almost exactly the house that she had grown up in for all 23 of her years, she smiled as she walked closer to the stoop of the house and gasped again at the large "I Love You Laura Lee" banner on the very top of the front of the house. "You remembered…"

"I sure did! This was the first house you had looked at, and I saved all of my "stayaway" money for years as well as other money I was able to scrape up and put money down on this puppy! And they said we can move in first thing this weekend!"

"Steve…"

"And this is for you too," Steve placed the familiar red box into Laura's hands. Seeing her open the box and exhale in surprise as she took the shiny object out and held it up for her to see, Steve smiled at what he had come up with for his wife.

"The I.D. bracelet! You kept this?"

"Yeah…I remember those eight years ago when you didn't accept it. So I kept it for that one day I had hoped for since the first time we met in Kindergarten…that you and I would go steady and one day be married."

"Steve, you're so sweet…I don't know what I'd do without you in my life."

"Me either Laura Lee…" He said as he felt Laura wrap her arms around him. "Me either…"

* * *

**A/N: I have one or two more chapters planned for this one and then I should be done, depending on how much more I want to add to the story! Let me know how the story is doing so far!**


	4. Surprise! Pt 2

**Chapter Four: Surprise! Pt. 2**

"Thanks a lot you guys, I really appreciate this," Laura sat at the left end of the two tables put together and brought into the living room, taking a second to look at each of her family members, Greta, Steve, Maxine and Waldo that were sitting at the table with her. It had been a half an hour after receiving her husband's gifts and it was her favorite moment of every birthday she had ever had: talking with her family and friends.

"Aww, no problem Laura," Carl replied, sitting next to her. He smiled and patted Laura on the back, kissing her on the cheek soon after. "We'd never forget your birthday."

"That's right!" Mother Winslow added with a small laugh.

"No problem sis," Eddie said with a smile as he took another bite of his food. "Waldo, this food is the bomb! I knew you'd come through!"

"Of course, silly," Waldo naively replied. "The front door's right over there! You can't miss it!"

"Uh huh," Eddie added sarcastically, stirring his spaghetti and meatballs with his fork. Looking at Greta who was at his side, they both tried their best not to say anything bad.

"Eddo, don't even bother," Steve frowned and shook his head, rolling his eyes at what had just happened. Looking into Laura's eyes, he noticed that she was returning his look as well and they both smiled at each other.

"But I'll admit…you guys had me for a second," Laura decided to look down at her now empty plate, trying her hardest not to smirk at how silly she was acting from being so glum before realizing that her family was waiting to surprise her. "Aunt Rachel, how are Richie and 3J doing with you and Grandma in Detroit?"

"Oh, they're fine! You know how thirteen year olds are! I remember being thirteen ten years ago…"

"Plus twenty four," Harriette butted in with her usual satirical smile. Looking out the corner of her eye, she saw Rachel's face that was playfully angry in return.

"Ha, ha, HA!" Rachel laughed sarcastically, tossing a balled up napkin at her sister's direction, which ended up hitting Harriette on the shoulder.

"Mom, can I talk to you for a minute?" Laura stood up and walked over to Harriette, who had finished taking a sip of water from her glass.

"Oh, sure Laura," Harriette replied and followed Laura down the hallway to outside her bedroom door, sure that no one would be able to hear their conversation.

* * *

"Uh…Steve?" Carl looked over across the table to his son-in-law who was eating his second helping of food that Waldo had prepared before everyone was ready to indulge in the cake waiting in the kitchen.

"Yeah, Big Guy?" Steve answered as he stopped his fork from entering his mouth and put it back down on his plate.

"I know I didn't say this during you and Laura's wedding…and I wouldn't believe nine years ago that I would be saying this, but…I feel that…you are the right husband for Laura."

"Awww! Thanks Carl!" Steve smiled brightly and put his fork up to his mouth to chew some more of the food left on his plate.

"Yeah Steve," Rachel grinned and reached over to pat Steve on his forearm. "For a minute…you WERE driving us nuts, and I lost count over how many times we asked you to 'go home'. But…you and Laura are both grown up now, and through the years you stood up for Laura and defended her no matter what."

"Steve, Rachel is right," Mother Winslow added. "That's why I thought you were such a sweet boy then, and that's why I still feel that way about you now."

"I have to admit…when we first met, I didn't even want to have ANYTHING to do with Steve," Eddie admitted, tightening his arm that was around Greta's waist a little.

"Well! Tell me how you really feel, Eddo," Steve remarked, feeling a little hurt from how his best friend felt about him.

"But as the years went on, I found Steve to be a true friend after all."

"You guys…" Steve said semi-embarrassed from the sudden pour of compliments that he received from the four people he loved the most.

"Awwwwwww gee! Awwwwwwww gee!" Waldo cried out as he almost felt a few tears gather under his eyes, not noticing that all eyes were on him.

"Waldo?" Eddie asked, surprised from Waldo's sudden outburst.

"Waldo, what's wrong?" Maxine asked as she rubbed Waldo's back. Waldo sobbed for a second before he felt that he was able to answer his girlfriend.

"That was…that was…beautiful!" Waldo answered as he blew his nose with a handkerchief that he pulled out from his shirt pocket.

* * *

"So what did you want to talk about, Laura?" Harriette questioned, habitually putting her hands on her hips and cocking her head slightly to the side. The two of them had moved into Laura and Steve's bedroom while everyone else was out in the living room chatting and eating.

"Well…" Laura started and paused for a minute, unsure about how she should phrase her question. "Let's just say a little bird told me you've been a little down lately."

"What would make you say that?" Harriette asked, moving over to the bed to sit down on the edge.

"I've noticed you haven't been as happy since the wedding and after Eddie moved out for good when he joined the force," Laura started to say, but after seeing Harriette not say anything, she decided to be truthful. "Fine, Dad told me, all right?"

"That Carl…" Harriette frowned, feeling guilty for having told him her feelings in the first place. Feeling Laura's hand resting on her right thigh, she looked up to see Laura sitting next to her on the bed.

"But if he didn't, we wouldn't know and we would have just thought things were going fine with you."

"I guess you're right…" Harriette smiled, looking her daughter up and down. "It's just…you and Eddie…you two grew up so fast! And before I knew it, Eddie's moved in to his own apartment and with Greta. You and Steve are on your own and about to move into your own house…"

"That's true Mom," Laura said, looking her mother straight in the eye. "But you know that we're only a call away and we'll come by to visit you and Dad whenever we can."

"Thank you Laura," Harriette hugged her daughter, feeling her doubts and other bad thoughts beginning to go away. "I love you Laura."

"You're welcome, Mom. And I love you too."

* * *

"Well, it was nice to see everyone here again, Laura Lee," Steve closed the front door after saying goodbye to Rachel and Mother Winslow, who were the last to leave. Noticing that Laura was sitting at the dinner table, focusing in on her thoughts in her own world with her chin resting in her hand, Steve waved a hand in front of her face to get her attention.

"Sorry Steve, I was just thinking of something."

"What was that, my sweet?"

"I was thinking of how grateful I am to have our family…"

"Oh yes, yes!" Steve added, smiling as he stood behind Laura.

"…And you," Laura turned her neck to look at Steve, who was surprised to hear Laura, the love of his life, mention him in that way. "…So I was also thinking…"

"Yes?" Steve asked, very curious as to what Laura was thinking about.

"About all the wonderful things you gave for me on my birthday," Laura stood up, grabbing Steve by the hand and slowly leading him down the hallway. "…And how I can make it up to you."

"Uh huh," Steve slightly loosened his collar, feeling that he could tell what Laura was about to do.

"And I found out what I can do for the first gift of many," Laura moved in toward Steve to give him a kiss on the lips. "But in order to give you the gift, we have to be in here." Laura opened the bedroom door, smiling as she continued to lead Steve in the room by the hand.

"Houston! We have take-off!" Steve grinned as he closed the door behind him, ready to receive his gift.

* * *

The End!


End file.
